Thursday, June 16, 2016

Presenting Multifaceted Mitts, the fingerless mitts version of my Multifaceted Mittens! Personally, I love mitts. Having my fingers free is so much more practical, plus I get to show off my nail polish... ;)

Features:

all-over stranded colourwork pattern inspired by crystals

twisted ribbing at the cuffs and mitt-tops

short-cuff and long-cuff options (mitts shown with long cuffs)

full-mitten version also available (separately or both in an ebook)

requires less than 50g of fingering-weight yarn in each colour

one size, to fit 7-8" palm circumference

pattern includes colourwork charts

Like the mittens, the mitts are knit in Knitsch Sock yarn from Holland Road Yarn Co. This time I chose 'Sweet Pea' for the main colour, a really strong vibrant pink, and 'Silver Lining' again for the contrast colour (because of its shimmering-metal illusion).

The mitts have a few extra little details, like the two-colour ribbing at the top of the thumb. This allows for a decent amount of ribbing while also continuing the colourwork pattern. It's slightly awkward to switch between knit and purl stitches while also switching colours, but it's only for a small area (and the effect is really worth it).

Thursday, June 9, 2016

This one's for my fellow southern-hemisphere-dwellers, where the weather is settling in to proper wintery rain and cold right now. My latest knit design is Multifaceted Mittens, a pair of colourwork mittens with an all-over pattern of crystals, and optional shorter or longer cuffs.

The matching mitts pattern is coming soon, so if you prefer your mittens fingerless I'll have you covered shortly!

I became kind of obsessed with designing a crystalline colourwork pattern after watching some cartoons which had beautiful crystal shapes in their background artwork - herearesomeexamples from Adventure Time and Steven Universe. I like my cartoons weird, and I like them pretty.

The crystal pattern lends itself to playing with jewel colours, and the yarn I chose, Knitsch Sock dyed by Tash of Holland Road Yarn Co, comes in a wealth of rich, vibrant colours. I used 'Amethyst' and 'Silver Lining', two semi-solid shades with a lot of light/dark contrast. Solid, semi-solid, and variegated yarns will all work in this pattern, but do make sure you have enough contrast between your main colour and contrast colour - for example you could pair a darker variegated MC with a pale solid CC. One of my test-knitters switched MC and CC around for her second mitten, which looks really cool. :)

Knitsch Sock is a good choice for these mittens because its springiness helps you knit at a tight gauge without discomfort, and it's nice and hard-wearing (which I like for anything I'm going to wear on my hands).

You can see all the details and download the Multifaceted Mittens pattern from Ravelry, Loveknitting, Etsy, or Craftsy. The mitts pattern is in the pipeline - look out for it (and the ebook containing both patterns) next week.

Stats

Ravelry Store:

Loveknitting:

Craftsy Store:

To Download Patterns:

Click on any of the stores above, or click on the individual designs below to see their Ravelry pages...

Aether Shawl

Aether Cowl

Rainbow Cake

Leadlight

Budburst

Hextile Wrap

Beeswax Scarf

Cinnamon Stars

Silverwing

Folia Triangle

Folia Loop

Folia Crescent

Multifaceted Mitts

Multifaceted Mittens

Amarilli

Liquid Honey

Heartpops

Tailfeather

Rose Jam Mitts

Rose Jam Hat

Deco City

Above the Clouds

Droste Effect

Spacedust

Lunate

Kea

Fretboard

Ascent

Peacowl

Field of Stars

Paper Snowflake

Paper Boat

Paper Planes

Paper Hearts

Paper Crown

On the Record

Beeswax mitts

Beeswax cowl

Beeswax hat

Seaswell

Bushwalk Beanie

Bubble & Squeak

INSULATE! mittens

Mithrandir

Starstuff hat

Starstuff

Beachgrass

Bright Side

INSULATE! hat

Carrot Top

Dyer's Delight

True Colours

I Dream of Falling Blocks

Queen of the Night

Amy's Scarf

Baroque, adj. /bəˈrɒk, -ˈrəʊk/

1: of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a style of artistic expression prevalent especially in the 17th century that is marked generally by use of complex forms, bold ornamentation, and the juxtaposition of contrasting elements often conveying a sense of drama, movement, and tension2: characterized by grotesqueness, extravagance, complexity, or flamboyance3: irregularly shaped - used of gems - 'a baroque pearl'Origin: French, from Middle French barroque and Portuguese barocco, irregularly shaped pearl. First known use: 1765

Purl, noun. /pəːl/

1: a knitting stitch made by putting the needle through the front of the stitch from right to leftOrigin: mid 17th century, of uncertain origin